Flashback: Painful Video of Biden’s DEI Pick to Lead FAA Unable to Answer Aviation Questions
The text discusses the inquiry into the mid-air collision involving American Eagle Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, which resulted in 67 fatalities. The incident raises concerns regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), particularly relating to air traffic controllers. Democrats argue that while DEI initiatives under past administrations have altered hiring procedures, all hired individuals were qualified. Conversely, republicans highlight these practices while questioning the appointment of Phillip Washington, whose aviation expertise was lacking, to lead the FAA.Despite his nomination being withdrawn after inadequate responses during confirmation hearings, Washington’s case serves as an example of the potential consequences of prioritizing diversity over merit. The text emphasizes that while the root cause of the collision remains unclear and complex, it raises serious questions about the implications of DEI-focused hiring in critical safety positions within aviation.
In the weeks and months ahead, as the mid-air collision that killed 67 on board American Eagle Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is investigated, you’re bound to hear a lot about DEI hires in the Federal Aviation Administration, especially in the area of air traffic controllers.
Democrats will say that, despite changes to hiring practices under the Obama and Biden administrations, everyone who was given a job was qualified. When they do that, do not expect them to bring up the name Phillip Washington. There’s a reason for that.
To clarify what we know at the moment, the American Eagle Bombardier CRJ700, which was landing at Reagan National Airport just outside of Washington, D.C. after a flight from Wichita, Kansas on Wednesday night, collided with the helicopter, which was on a training mission, just moments after being warned by the air traffic controller.
The Washington Post reported one controller was handling both airliner and helicopter traffic at the time of the collision, a situation described as “not normal” but adequate given the traffic level. The incident came one day after another near miss between an airliner and helicopter traffic occurred at the same airport.
Republicans pointed to a slew of DEI hiring practices under the past two Democratic administration which prioritized minorities and those with disabilities; Democrats countered that these practices had little effect on operational safety and that the cause of the accident remains unclear.
That may be true, but remember who then-President Joe Biden thought should be in charge of the FAA back in 2023.
Phillip Washington had previously been the CEO of the Denver International Airport when he was nominated, CNN reported, but Republican lawmakers noted he had “slim aviation credentials and his potential legal entanglements.”
For what it’s worth, Washington was a person of color. I’m not sure whether or not this played any role in him getting the nomination. What I am sure of — and what a senator who also happened to be a pilot made sure of, as well — is that he should never have been nominated in the first place.
During Washington’s confirmation hearings, North Carolina GOP Sen. Ted Budd, himself a licensed pilot, asked Washington a series of seven questions related to aviation. He batted a perfect .000.
First up, he was asked what airspace requires an ADS-B transponder; as Trig Avionics notes, these devices are “typically combined with a GPS, to transmit highly accurate positional information to ground controllers and also directly to other aircraft,” letting both controllers, other aircraft, and the public know exact altitude, speed, and location, among other things. (All of those, in case you happen to be unusually dense, would be mighty important in avoiding, say, a mid-air collision.)
Washington said he wasn’t sure he could answer that “right now.”
“That’s a pretty important part,” Budd said, moving on.
Second question: “What are the six types of special use airspace that protect … national security that appear on FAA charts?”
Washington: “Sorry, senator, I cannot answer that question.”
Third question: “What are the operational limitations of a pilot flying under BasicMed?”
“Senator, I’m not a pilot, so–” Washington said.
“But obviously you oversee the Federal Aviation Administration, so any idea what those restrictions are under BasicMed?” Budd interrupted.
“Well, some of the restrictions, I think, would be high blood pressure, some of them would be–” Washington said.
Budd interrupted before he got himself in deeper. Basically, BasicMed allows pilots to fly without a medical certificate if they pilot smaller planes.
“It’s more like how many passengers per airplane, how many pounds in different categories and what altitude you can fly under,” Budd noted. “It doesn’t have anything to do with blood pressure.”
It went on from there, with Washington not even knowing what causes a plane to enter a spin or a stall, or any of the three certifications the FAA requires from aircraft manufacturers.
This doesn’t get any less painful, I assure you:
I asked Biden’s nominee for FAA Administrator 7 basic questions about aviation policy.
He went 0 for 7.
We can’t have an FAA Administrator who needs on the job training. @SenateCommerce pic.twitter.com/nzGiEUxr8w
— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) March 1, 2023
Suffice it to say, Mr. Washington did not pass his congressional check ride; as CNN noted, he withdrew his name from consideration due to what a White House official termed “an onslaught of unfounded Republican attacks.”
That didn’t stop his name from coming up again. Not as a nominee, mind you, but as a cautionary tale that promotion without merit, no matter what the reason may have been, was definitely a thing during the Obama/Biden years at the FAA:
REMINDER: Biden’s pick to lead the FAA was a DEI hire who couldn’t answer a single question about aviation. pic.twitter.com/Wpq27SSm9P
— Jessica 🇺🇸 (@RealJessica05) January 30, 2025
Again, let me point out that two things we know right now aren’t mutually exclusive.
First: There’s no definitive evidence what caused this tragedy and likely won’t be for months, and air travel is stacked with so many levels of redundancy that this likely involved more than just one or two failures of safety protocol.
Second: Thanks to Democratic administrations, there is sufficient evidence of hiring practices at the FAA that, most charitably, could be described as merit-ambivalent.
Some of it falls under the aegis of what we call “DEI hires.” As for Phillip Washington, who the heck knows? Of course, that’s the double-edged sword of DEI: Even if you are qualified, the assumption is that you just checked some boxes. At least in this case, we can safely assume nobody would get the incorrect assumption about his level of talent for the job he was nominated to do.
Point being: What we do know is that just under two years ago, an administration thought a guy who knew nothing about aviation should lead the Federal Aviation Administration. Any Democrat who brays about Trump or any other Republican “politicizing” these dangerous hiring practices ought to watch this video on repeat until they’re disabused of that line of rhetoric for good.
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